The Low Carbon Board Report provides a monthly analysis on key issues facing directors as they adapt their companies for the emerging low carbon economy.
In this issue:
Mitigating
Risk In The Supply Chain - Carbon Management For Suppliers
Leapfrog Poised To Jump Into CSR Spotlight
The Oil Business - View From A High Emitting Sector
London Array To Harness Offshore Wind
Interview with Mike Stephenson, IBM
Mitigating Risk In The Supply Chain - Carbon Management For Suppliers
In these difficult economic conditions, companies that are part of a supply chain stand a better chance of holding on to business by staying abreast of their customers' changing priorities.
With growing public awareness of climate change and carbon footprints, and regulation set to become stronger in the face of more certain scientific data and intergovernmental agreements, clever carbon management is a core business concern. By carbon management, we mean the measurement and management of the six greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide covered by the legally-binding international Kyoto Protocol.
Many procuring organizations are already engaging their suppliers in an effort to cut costs, mitigate risk and promote best practice around environmental and social impacts in their supply chains. This is driven in part by recent UK legislation which will obligate many companies to measure, reduce and report their carbon emissions.
Where to begin?
With multiple customers and without official industry standards, where should you begin? How far should you go through your supply chain to monitor emissions, and what should you do with your findings? In short, how can you turn risk around carbon management from a cost into a benefit, and make business sense out of 'carbon sense'?
In 2008 a group of leading UK companies formed a taskforce to tackle exactly this problem based on their own practical experience. Household names from the retail, banking, communications and energy sectors worked with the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), Business in the Community (BiTC) and the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), supported by the Carbon Trust, to develop a carbon management guide.
This Guide enables their suppliers to simply and methodically audit their emissions - and to understand how this will benefit their business.
Help at hand
The Guide is available to download at
no cost from the websites of CPSL, BiTC, the taskforce companies
and the Prince's May Day Network. To access the Guide click
here -
http://www.cpsl.cam.ac.uk/our_work/publications/carbon_management_guide.aspx.
It is useful for all suppliers being asked to meet carbon management requirements, including those based in other countries. Procuring organizations - both in the public and private sectors - will also find it helpful. The Guide is a 'one-stop shop' providing non-technical, practical guidance on measuring, managing and reducing GHG emissions, and sets out the business implications of carbon management in global supply chains.
It addresses the questions covered by customer questionnaires, the major independent carbon management questions and the carbon-related corporate social responsibility reporting frameworks.
It is broken down into short, easily digestible sections. So, even if you already have a broad understanding and only want guidance on a specific issue, you can use the navigation tools to take you straight to the relevant sections.
Measuring your emissions
It's important to measure emissions properly, as customers are increasingly concerned about the credibility of emissions data and reduction plans. To build a good management system for measuring emissions, you will need a solid business case for it. You will also need to decide the boundaries for reduction targets - which GHGs, the scope of emissions, and the extent of your business units to include.
Most customers see measuring emissions as the first step in carbon management, so it's a key focus of their questionnaires. First identify your emissions sources, and select the calculation tools or conversion factors to convert your activity data - such as KWh of electricity usage - into emissions data. Then combine the data from each business unit to calculate overall emissions.
Developing a carbon management policy
You may decide to develop a carbon management policy for your business. The Guide provides a "template" policy, but be aware that any policy will have limited impact unless your staff are engaged and incentivised, and progress is regularly reviewed.
Some companies go for external verification, although this is mainly relevant if you are publicly reporting your emissions data, or planning to apply for carbon credits under one of the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms - Emissions Trading, Clean Development Mechanism, or Joint Implementation.
Others publicly disclose their emissions data and reduction plans. This is not a commitment to take lightly and you need to be confident about the robustness of the data, targets and procedures.
What next?
The UK 2008 Climate Act sets legally binding targets on the UK to reduce GHG emissions by at least 80% by 2050, and by at least 26% by 2020, against a 1990 baseline. To meet these targets, the UK Government plans to set carbon budgets to cap emissions over five-year periods. The first three budgets will be set this year. This autumn Defra is publishing voluntary guidelines on how to measure and report emissions.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which should take effect in 2010, is a "cap-and-trade" scheme that mainly affects medium-and large-scale non-energy-intensive companies with an electricity consumption of more than 6,000 MWh each year - equivalent to a bill of £1 million or more - that produce carbon emissions not already covered by Climate Change Agreements or the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
The CRC will make it mandatory for these companies to calculate and report emissions on an annual basis, and places a financial cost on producing emissions, while providing a financial incentive to reduce emissions. The companies will have to purchase carbon emissions allowances to cover their total emissions each year.
This new legislation means that pressure from customers and government to address carbon emissions is going to increase not decrease. As Carmel McQuaid, Climate Change Manager at Marks & Spencer plc says, "We believe companies have a clear opportunity to maintain and win business by managing their GHG emissions well. This issue is only going to grow in importance in the next few years. Companies that demonstrate good carbon management could benefit by differentiating their services, achieving efficiency savings and proactively positioning themselves for future requirements. This guide will help companies to quickly get up to speed and navigate their way through what can be a complex process."
Paul Turner from Lloyds Banking Group and chair of the taskforce that produced the Guide concurs. "Carbon management isn't a short term issue that is optional. It is both a long term risk and opportunity impacting all businesses in all sectors. The guide is a practical, no-nonsense tool relevant to a wide range of companies."
Taskforce companies include: BT Group plc, EDF Energy, Kingfisher plc, Lloyds TSB (Chair), Marks & Spencer plc, Royal Mail Group plc, Serco Group plc, United Utilities. The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is an Observer Member. Advisory Members include Global Action Plan, Mason Hardy and Tripos Consulting. The Carbon Trust supports the 2009 initiative that developed the Guide and provided key information for it.
Margaret Adey is Development Director
for the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability
Leadership (CPSL). Working with business, government, civil
society and academics, CPSL builds leaders' capacity to meet
the needs of society and address critical global challenges.
For further information see www.cpsl.cam.ac.uk.
|
Leapfrog Poised To Jump Into
CSR Spotlight
Writing a cheque may be the most direct and simple way for a company to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). And it can certainly be money well spent, as companies wishing to support low carbon projects have an ever widening choice of services provided by environmental consultancies, carbon management specialists, and voluntary offset providers.
But some companies are opting for a more hands-on approach. Instead of buying "off the shelf" products and services some companies are joining with like-minded partners to develop their own strategies for investing time or money in low carbon projects.
A notable example is Leapfrog, a not-for-profit group that will offer pro bono services to low carbon projects.Put together in around 18 months Leapfrog aims to launch formally in September 2009. "We now have half a dozen projects on board with scores more in the hopper, a new board of trustees and support from a wide range of sectors," it says.
Leapfrog has attracted interest from environmental, engineering and strategic consultants, clean-tech investors, major banks and hedge funds, law firms and accountants. Big names impressed by its vision include HSBC, Lloyds, Cooperative Bank, and Cambridge University.
Visibility and vision
|
"Travers Smith was looking at offsetting and thought how much more interesting it would be to do our own project than just send off a cheque." |
The idea for Leapfrog had several roots, says Steve McNab of law firm Travers Smith, who has had a key role in building the project. Most obviously it enables companies from different sectors to collaborate, and also enables them to have a closer view of the projects they are involved in. "Pro bono work is well established in law firms, and in some other sectors too. Travers Smith was looking at offsetting and thought how much more interesting it would be to do our own project than just send off a cheque," he says.
"The idea for Leapfrog came after I invested a lot of personal effort in a previous Kyoto CDM project that failed to get off the ground because it needed wider support. So I started talking to people in other companies such as BDO, RSK and ERM and found a lot of interest - a latent desire to do more than simply change the light bulbs - an enthusiasm to use professional skills in a really targeted way to support low carbon initiatives. But the idea of pro bono work isn't an established way of doing things in some sectors, so we needed a vehicle that companies could use - hence Leapfrog."
There are plans for three workstreams - UK-based carbon reduction projects with a strong grassroots aspect, back office support for technology transfer and carbon reduction projects in the developing world, and support for cleantech entrepreneurs.
Empowering communities and entrepreneurs
Among the grassroots projects are Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral. Launched by the Cheshire village in November 2005, the aim is to monitor the emissions of the community and encourage reductions. Since the project launch the village has cut its carbon footprint by 20% according to the University of Chester. It has also inspired more than 100 other communities to launch similar projects, drawn international delegations and visits from the leaders of the main political parties.
Leapfrog is providing legal and financial backing for a community owned energy supply company and it is possible that a wider team will help to win planning and regulatory consents, and support from utility and grid companies for a "micro-grid". The blueprint will be available as "freeware" to other communities.
International projects backed by Leapfrog include SolarAid, a UK-based charity that helps entrepreneurs in the developing world to build and sell small solar devices such as radios, lanterns, and mobile phones. Attempts are made to source the materials locally, and the charity provides training in management and marketing skills to help participants generate enough income to support their families and sustain the business. It is estimated that use of a SolarAid charger can save of up to 20% of a family's income previously spent on fuel. Leapfrog has been asked to help develop the initiative as a programmatic Gold Standard CDM project.
The Low Carbon Foundation is a not-for-profit venture capital fund for early stage technology companies. The Foundation seeks a financial return from its investments, but this will be invested in new carbon reducing technologies rather than being returned to investors and donors. A Leapfrog legal team is advising on the structure and governance for the fund.
In particular, Leapfrog aims to help entrepreneurs with good workable, potentially "game changing" ideas who have not been picked up by traditional investors. "This is all about supporting entrepreneurs who are stuck in what is known as the 'valley of death'. They have spent their savings and borrowed from granny but they're still struggling at the pre-venture capital stage.
"Applying some commercial business building sense, IP advice, legal input or more scientific research might help them on to the next stage. We found these people by going to cleantech investors and looking at their 'too hard' or 'too early' piles - ideas they thought had potential but couldn't follow up at that point," says McNab.
Learning, networks and change
There are sound business reasons why a company committed to CSR might want to do more than write a cheque, suggests Matt Gitsham, Director of the Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability. "We have done a lot of thinking about CSR - in particular its links to learning and organisational change. A story we hear a lot now is that in o
rder to change more is needed than just leadership at the board level - there need to be learning processes right across the organisation."
Involvement in projects of Leapfrog's kind can not only fulfill a company's CSR commitments, but also bring internal benefits to participants. For example, it could help to build networks of people who might otherwise find it difficult to discover each other - particularly in a large company. Unilever and IBM are increasingly interested in exploring new approaches to learning, says Gitsham. "Many are looking beyond the classroom, learning that doesn't involve just staring out of a window," he says.
Having a more compelling story to tell about its low carbon strategy is another benefit of a company opting for direct involvement in low carbon projects, but Gitsham suggests that marketing messages would not be the main benefit. "Yes it's a different story, a new story as opposed to a common story. But change is all about the people in an organisation, not just changes to its formal systems."
Key questions:
- Could collaborating on CSR bring business benefits too?
- How can we support networks within our company?
- Could CSR be a catalyst for learning and change in our company?
The Oil Business - View From A High Emitting Sector
Last winter, a dispute about payments between Ukraine and Russia led to disruptions in gas supplies that left millions of eastern Europeans shivering in the cold. It brought a chill to the corridors of power too, with its implications for the security of our energy supply, and especially our dependence on fossil fuel imports.
There are significant differences in the energy mix of EU countries - the dominance of nuclear power in France or of coal in Poland, for example - but the general consensus is that our dependence on imported hydrocarbons will rise unless we take action now.
Oil covers 40% to 50% of primary energy needs in almost all EU member states, and transport and petroleum is the single biggest energy-consuming sector, averaging 31% across the EU. Reliance on imported hydrocarbons is expected to increase as European reserves in the North Sea diminish, with dependency expected to reach 90% for oil and 80% for gas in 2030.
Muscles from Brussels
In principle the energy mix in each member state is a matter of national sovereignty, but the EU aims to influence choices by setting targets on renewable energies and greenhouse gas emissions. In March 2007, member states endorsed those principles, supporting three objectives of EU policy - security of supply, affordable energy, and environmental sustainability.
Broadly, EU policy aims to yoke together the diversity of our energy mix with promotion of cleaner sources. But a European market tweaked to promote competing energy sources, plus the EU Emissions Trading Scheme - mandatory for oil refineries and platforms - adds up to some tough challenges for the oil industry.
"The biggest part of our energy demand is offshore operations," says Mike Tholen, Economics and Commercial Director for Oil & Gas UK. The organisation represents the supply chain from the reservoir to the refinery and has around 40 members directly involved in extraction, plus another 50 companies in the supply chain. "Energy is needed to get it out of the underground reservoir - typically with compressors - and then to move it ashore - particularly significant for oil. In some cases, energy is also needed to move water back into the reservoir," he says.
The need for energy efficiency has always been a priority in offshore extraction, because of the isolation of platforms, their size and complexity, says Tholen. Beyond improving the energy efficiency of their platforms, oil companies are eyeing the possibilities of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), he says.
Mixed responses to CCS
"There is an obvious business opportunity that could emerge for the owners of oil and gas reservoirs, and others in the supply chain.
The industry already knows how to process and transport gases. What is less clear is the business case, for two reasons. It's not a
'slam dunk' getting oil and gas out of the ground, and there's an argument for pumping CO2 into reservoirs to help with their extraction. But we already use other methods - like pumping water in, as I mentioned. The other factor is the carbon price. If it moves north of £45 per tonne there might be a business case, but that's far in advance of what we're seeing," he says.
While companies like Statoil of Norway have made significant moves into CCS, this has its roots in business rather than environmental imperatives, says Tholen. "Their gas reservoirs had a CO2 content that was way too high - they needed to do something about this before the gas entered the grid. So they had already looked at ways of separating out the CO2 out and disposing of it. What they have done with CCS is build on that."
EU moves to cut carbon emissions have also made an impact on the second half of the oil supply chain - the part from the refinery to the garage forecourt. The most immediate impact in the UK is the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which requires the proportion of biofuels in forecourt fuels to be increased in steps to 5% by volume by 2010. Two further EU directives setting out targets for biofuels and renewable energy sources were passed by the European Parliament this summer, and the UK government is to publish a roadmap for compliance by next June.
The view downstream
|
"It's not a 'slam dunk' getting oil and gas out of the ground, and there's an argument for pumping CO2 into reservoirs to help with their extraction. But we already use other methods." |
"The targets are challenging, but they are achievable," says Malcolm Watson, Technical Director of the UK Petroleum Industry Association. Initial enthusiasm for biofuels rapidly waned over concerns about the sustainability of production, and difficulties in tracing their origin, but these should be addressed by the new EU directives, says Watson. "There are also new production methods to develop - producing biofuel from solid waste, or straw or wood, for example," he says.
"But an important point to remember is that around 85% of the carbon footprint of petrol comes from burning - the use of it. About 8% to 10% comes from refining it, 1% from transporting it in tankers, and the remainder in extraction. That's why we're working closely with motor manufacturers," he says.
"Something that gets forgotten is that the Ford Model 'T' ran on ethanol, and ethanol was widely used up until around World War 2, when oil became abundant and cheap," says Anders Lau Tuxen Energy Strategist at Novozymes A/S, a Danish company exploring new methods of biofuel production.
A new market for biotech?
With a background in industrial biotechnology, Novozymes is experienced in developing micro-organisms and enzymes for the food, beverage and textile industries but now sees opportunities in applying the technology to production of hydrocarbons such as ethanol.
An advantage of this approach is that it can be applied to a wide range of organic waste materials that would otherwise go to landfill sites or emit greenhouse gases. There is another sustainability advantage in that the feedstocks are waste materials as opposed to crops that can - and arguably should - be used for food.
Mainstream oil producers have yet to invest heavily in such "second generation" biofuels, he says. "BP has shown interest in ethanol from sugar cane, but it's still peanuts. The oil industry is a mature business. It's been around for about 100 years and it will take them time to get their heads around biofuels."
The ethanol production techniques being explored by Novozymes have a number of advantages. The basic chemistry involved in digesting materials like cellulose is reasonably well understood, as is the process of using yeasts to turn carbohydrates into ethanol. The general kind of engineering needed for industrial scale production is also known, but more development work is needed on the enzymes, says Lau Tuxen
It should be worth the effort, he thinks. "We normally quote a figure of 25% of global transport needs that could be supplied by biofuels. That's a cautious estimate - McKinsey says it could be as high as 50%.".
Key questions:
- What impact will carbon reduction
have on our supply chain?
- Will carbon reduction open up new markets to our sector?
- What threats and opportunities do we face from carbon prices?
London Array To Harness Offshore Wind
Just as in the 1970s, when we looked to the North Sea oil and gas fields to cut our ruinous dependence on imports from the Middle East, now we look to our offshore resources to reduce our thirst for fossil fuels.
This time our hopes are pinned on wind energy, an idea that was greeted by deep scepticism when it was first mooted by the green lobby, but it's worth remembering that similar reactions greeted our plans for extracting oil from under the seabed, even from within the industry. Until the 1980s, the furthest the US oil industry had ventured offshore was into the Gulf of Mexico.
Yet, within a few years, these same people were achieving the seemingly impossible in the North Sea. No-one had ever attempted to operate such huge platforms at such a distance from the mainland and at such depths.
So there seems little reason to doubt that we have the engineering expertise needed to harness the available wind energy, and the London Array project suggests that these ambitions are more than just pipe dreams.
Landmark project takes shape
The London Array, due to be built on a 90 square mile site some 12 miles off the Kent and Essex coasts in the Thames Estuary, will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The project is to be managed by E.ON, Abu Dhabi's Masdar initiative, and Dong Energy from Denmark, and will proceed in two stages. The first, to be completed in 2012 will consist of up to 175 turbines. The second stage will bring the total to 271, with the capacity to generate 1,000MW, enough energy for roughly three-quarters of a million homes.
Denmark became the first country to test the wind farm concept back in 1991, but the UK has only recently taken offshore wind seriously. Given its relatively shallow waters and access to large areas of the North Sea., the UK has more than 33% of the European total resource, and among the largest offshore wind resources in the world.
The London Array project is part of a wider strategy to harness some 33GW of wind energy, says Nick Medic of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). "It's important to realise that the London Array, although important, is just the start. Previous projects tended to be focused on developing the concept of the offshore wind farm. Now we'll see that extended to an array - hundreds of turbines. I think the next stage will see the development of zones - large areas dotted with many arrays."
Slow start, fast progress
|
"It's important to realise that the London Array, although important, is just the start...I think the next stage will see the development of zones - large areas dotted with many arrays." |
Compared to the timescales often seen for onshore installations - usually lengthened by delays in gaining planning approval - progress with developing offshore has been rapid. The first offshore wind farm in the UK, North Hoyle, was commissioned in December 2003 and the second, Scroby Sands one year later in December 2004. This was followed by what was then the world's largest offshore wind farm, the 90MW Kentish Flats in 2005.
Some credit for this progress must go to support from the Government, particularly the then Minister John Hutton, suggests Nick Medic. "The Government signalled that it wanted to develop offshore wind, and identified 3GW worth of sites in the first round [in 2001] of the bidding process. There was a lot of interest in this and a second round of 5GW followed [in 2003]. Because both these rounds were seen to be a success, plans for a round three followed, which was bigger than ever with a total of 25GW of sites to be bid for," he says. The successful bidders for third round licences will be announced later this year, he says. This should make a significant contribution to UK efforts to meet the EU target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The other important way in which the UK Government supports offshore wind, albeit indirectly, is through the Renewables Obligation scheme (RO), which requires electricity suppliers to use an increasing proportion of renewable sources or face financial penalties.
Supportive framework needed
So, with an increasing demand - albeit shaped by regulation - abundant resources, and the expertise needed to tap it, the prospects for offshore wind look good. But there are problems, and a hint of these came with difficulties experienced by the London Array project. The first bombshell was the withdrawal of Shell - one of the three original partners - from the project, citing spiralling costs and a desire to focus on the US market.
Then the the flow of investment from banks was switched off as the credit crunch took hold. Analysts at Climate Change Capital suggest that volatile oil prices may have a stifling effect on the sector. It is argued that contraction in our economies, reduction in demand and collapse in both fossil fuel prices and the price of carbon allowances in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), has made investors wary of projects where returns strongly depend on fossil fuel prices. This tends to increase the required return for low carbon assets, which effectively increases their cost.
Along with the high cost of borrowing, the costs of installations and grid infrastructure are significant hurdles to further development. No doubt this was in the Chancellor's mind when he unveiled a support package in the April 2009 budget. The proposals include a potential £525m of new money under the Renewable Obligation scheme, a deal with the European Investment Bank to provide up to £4 billion for investment in renewable infrastructure projects, as well as a one year doubling of capital allowances from 20% to 40%.
In the 1970s, North Sea companies were allowed to recoup their investment before paying taxes on the oil extracted, and it seems that government policy is set to play a key part in this new development of the North Sea as an energy source.
Key questions:
- What part does renewable energy play in our low carbon strategy?
- What are the risks and benefits of on-site generation?
- Does our choice of electricity supplier take "green tariffs"
into account?
Interview with a Low Carbon
Leader
Mike Stephenson, IBM
Mike
is responsible for a wide range of projects within the Climate
Change programme at IBM UK, looking at ways to reduce carbon
emissions from service provision and develop service offerings
to assist clients with theirs. As Associate Partner of Strategy
& Change, in IBM’s UK Climate Change Programme within its Global
Business Services, he specialises in carbon reduction strategy,
employee engagement and behaviour change. Mike has been previously
responsible for IT-enabled Organisational Performance and as
a consultant to and director of global companies during the
past two decades. In the US he was a Change Leader, facilitating
a major strategic business transformation programme; and consulted
to Silicon Valley venture capitalists, identifying corporate
benefits from emerging technology. Mike has run the IBM UK Innovation
Centres and has developed an Innovation Strategy for UK Government.
He teaches psychology of Creativity and Innovation within IBM.
Tell us about what are you working on right now
“I’m pretty focussed on employee engagement and behaviour change around climate change these days. With my consultant hat on, I’m helping a UK Government Department with their Sustainability Leadership programme and a UK Government Agency with employee engagement on new ways of working to reduce business travel. I’m also just starting a project inside IBM UK using Appreciative Inquiry [an organisational development philosophy] techniques to drive positive change in ‘green’ behaviours.”
What are your proudest 'green' achievements?
“Late in 2006, I started the UK Climate Change Programme as a very small project – it is now a formally staffed Centre of Excellence helping many clients reduce their carbon emissions. We in the UK are leading on behalf of the global corporation to develop the company’s carbon reduction services and solutions. I think being that catalyst for change in an organisation as large and complex as IBM ranks as one of my career highlights.”
What are the biggest challenges you face in your role and how do you deal with them?
“I think people are always the biggest challenge. In the context of driving change towards low carbon ways of working I come across two key issues constantly. The first is competing priorities – people have the motivation to change but the current business practices and objectives are not aligned with ‘low carbon’ as a real priority. The second is translating good will into action. The social norms and rituals of most organisations do not readily support ‘low carbon’ working practices, such that even if people are motivated to change they are unlikely to translate that motivation into the desired behaviours without significant help. The two are related but the former needs to be addressed by the organisation – the latter by the individual.
“I deal with these challenges in different ways. From an organisational perspective it is about gaining agreement on what we mean by ‘low carbon ways of working’ and then applying formal and informal change management techniques, such as new travel policies, to encourage the emergence of new social norms and ultimately a new ‘culture.’ From an individual perspective I always stress the importance of being a role model and of making public commitment to a ‘green identity’ through their actions.”
What differentiates IBM from other companies in terms of the its environmental impact?
“Our values, experience and expertise. Apart from the fact that we have been at this a long time – our first formal environmental policy was published in 1971 – we have recently reaffirmed our core values as a company and they drive the way we do things. ‘Innovation that matters for our company and the world’ is one of our core values. It is realised by our use of collaborative tools and processes which enable all 350,000 or so employees across the world to share ideas and have a dialogue on important topics, called ‘Jamstm’. The Better Planet Jamtm held in 2006 really put this topic front and centre in the minds of all our employees. In the UK we held a local ‘THINKCo2’ event which engaged all of our UK consultants in debate on two questions – what should we do to reduce our carbon emissions when we deliver projects for clients?’ and ‘what can we do to help our clients reduce theirs?’
What has been your most successful low carbon initiative?
“It would have to be THINKCo2 – its impact was widespread and visible. As a result we now have our ‘Carbon Sensitive Code’ which we offer to clients to agree a low carbon way of working on projects. In fact we just completed one project for a client with no business travel at all! It was difficult and actually took slightly longer, but cost less, than if we had travelled for face-to-face meetings but because we had mutually agreed this new way of working upfront with the client they were very happy with the outcome.”
Are current UK Government climate change targets to reduce carbon serious enough?
“As an individual I think that to a large extent the actual number of the target is not that important – whether it is 60%, 80% or 100% by 2050 is not the important point. The importance is that the UK Government is trying to take a leadership position, which is essential to stimulate innovation. My own view is that 100% reduction should be the challenge as I actually believe we need to start thinking ‘No Carbon’ not ‘Low Carbon’.”
What low-carbon trends do you predict in the technology sector?
“Smart everything – smart buildings, intelligent transport, intelligent energy management, smart metering – forming a virtuous circle with Carbon Information Management, giving better feedback to users to drive behavioural change and with increasing focus on supply chains; and Social Computing and Telepresence as a way to reduce business travel. This is what I predict and it is necessary to buy us time, however I would like to see more focus on zero carbon technologies rather than low carbon. We need to aim for the equivalent of the artificial intelligence concept of a ‘singularity’ where zero carbon energy is produced by zero carbon supply chains.”
What's next on the IBM Climate Change Programme agenda?
“We need to continually improve our carbon reduction services and solutions and are working hard across all of our ‘house of carbon’ rooms – the model we use to describe the issues and opportunities for action – to innovate further. Water Management is also becoming a significant issue, and we plan to use a similar approach to the one we have used for carbon reduction for water use reduction.”
What would you advise someone who takes on a role similar to yours?
“Be careful and realistic
about your own ‘green’ identity. You want to be a role model,
but equally you don’t want to be a scary evangelist. That will
only turn people away. Also you have to recognise that your
own behaviour may not always be as ‘green’ as it should be.
I prefer to pick a couple of key behaviours and let people know
that these are my ‘walking the talk’ commitments – one is to
only use public transport for business travel and the other
is a ‘lunchtime vegetarian.’ I couldn’t give up meat completely
but it’s hard to justify the meat-intensive diet that most of
us in the western world are used to, in environmental terms.”
Low Carbon Board Report ~ August Issue
Topics for next month:
-
The Carbon Reduction Commitment – The challenges that lie ahead
- Disclosure – What do investors need to know about your carbon
reduction strategy?
- Professional services – The growth of environmental consulting
- Mining the data – Taking carbon out of business processes
Please send suggestions for future articles, or any other comments, to editor@low-carbon-report.com
Previous Board Reports
Please click on the links below to read previously published articles.
June
2009 Issue
Renewable
Energy And Corporate Carbon Emissions
Look
Beyond The Green Claims Code
Steel
Industry Looks Beyond Recycling
Lighting
The Way To Energy Harvest
Interview
with Dr Neil Bentley, Confederation of British Industry
May
2009 Issue
The
Green path to shareholder value
Carbon
Offsetting - Good Practice In The Voluntary Market
Heavy
Footprints - The Concrete And Cement Industries
Public
Sector Suppliers Face Greater Scrutiny
Interview
with Linzie Forrester, AMEC plc
March/April
2009 Issue
Bail-Out
Or Buy-In? Government In The Downturn
Counting
Carbon – Developments In Business Software
Green
Taxes – The Elephant In The Room?
Interview
with Peter Hofman, EDF Energy
February
2009 Issue
Property
And Climate Change - The Energy Efficiency Challenge
The
Virtually Workplace - Alternatives To Business Travel
Do
We Have The Skills Needed For A Low Carbon Economy?
Weathering
The Storm - Investment In Cleantech
Interview
with Andrew Hartley, Resource Efficiency Yorkshire
January
2009 Issue
Business
Critical? A Survey Of UK Views On The Low Carbon Economy
Climate
Change Law Brings New Era Of Carbon Budgets
New
Policies For A Planet In Peril
Carbon
Capture And Storage - A Missed Opportunity?
Interview
with Robert Webb, XCO2 and Quiet Revolution
November/December
2008 Issue
Stepping
Up To The Carbon Reduction Commitment
Signed,
Sealed, Delivered - The Carbon Label
Twists
And Turns On The Road To Sustainable Diesel
Interview
with Colin Challen, MP
October
2008 Issue
A
Place At The Top Table - Winning Support In The Boardroom
Corporate
Social Responsibility And Emissions Reduction
Trimming
The Footprint Of Commercial Property
Counting
The Cost Of Flight
Interview
with Ray Baker, Kingfisher
September
2008 Issue
Climate
Change: Navigating Between Inevitability and Uncertainty
Carbon
Audits - Business As Usual?
Towards
The City Of The Future
What
Price Carbon? The Markets Decide
Interview
with Allan Jones, London Climate Change Agency
July/August 2008 Issue
A
Helping Hand For Business - The CBI Climate Change Board
The
London 2012 Olympics - Swifter, Higher, Stronger, Cleaner
Learning
To Change
Greening
The Mean Machine
Interview
with Joe Kwasnik, National Grid
June
2008 Issue
The
Shades Of Green In Marketing Messages
Your
Feets Too Big - Data Centre Emissions
Customer
Services - Low Carbon Leaders?
Interview
with Zubaria Lone, Vodafone Group
May
2008 Issue
Responsible
Procurement Is Good For Business
Counting
The Cost Of Carbon - New Risks And Opportunities
The
New Drivers Of Low Carbon Transport
Shades
Of Green In The Energy Supply
Interview
with Dr Martin Gibson, Programme Director, Envirowise
April
2008 Issue
How
Green Is My Workplace?
Strength
In Numbers - Low Carbon Communities
Held
To Account - Shareholder Activism
Working
Together - Public Sector Partners
Interview
with Stephen
Brown, Sustainable Development Manager at Yorkshire Forward
March
2008 Issue
From
Green Overheads To Green Assets
Drawing
On Best Practice - The Case For Consultancy
Investing
In Low Carbon - Investing In The Future
The
Ingredients Of A Strategic Approach To Energy
Interview
with John
Elkington, Founder and Chief Entrepreneur, SustainAbility
February
2008 Issue
Moving
To A Low Carbon Economy
Motivated
Staff Make Lighter Footprints
Carbon
Offsets - Some Inconvenient Truths
International
Standards: Singing From The Same Hymn Sheet?
Interview
with Nicky
Major, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Ernst & Young
January
2008 Issue
The
Climate Change Bill: Transforming The Business Landscape
Why
Is Low Carbon An Issue For The Boardroom?
Low
Carbon Leader: The Champion In The Boardroom
The
Hunt For Carbon: Links In The Chain
Interview
with Simon Pearson, Head of Internal Environmental Management
at the Environment Agency